The Centurions
by Mikel Midnight
Summary: Heroes assembled from the Amalgam universe's past ... Big Sif, the Six Gun Triplicate Kid, the Atomic Black Knight, and Sgt Frank Rock ... band together to protect its future from Professor Kang.


AD 2960

His sneer was visible beneath the helmet. "You should have remained buried, alien. It's much less painful."

The man in scarlet gritted his teeth, the uniform concealing his blood. "Your Sentinels will never conquer this era, Professor Kang. There will always be more men to oppose you."

At his side, a young woman, also dressed in scarlet, gestured, releasing a hex which transformed one of the oncoming giant robots to stone. "We're not aliens here, Professor Kang. This is our future and we mean to make sure it remains free of you."

A streak of pale blue whirled around the legs of another Sentinel, and it toppled to the ground. The streak coalesced to a boy in his early teens. "BarryWandatherearetoomanyofthemwehavetogetoutofhere."

The Flash shook his head. "No, it's time to end this now." Faster than lightning, he ran at Professor Kang. The Scarlet Witch covered him, trying to keep the Sentinels from interfering. The villain, the colors of his costume inverting those of the hero who advanced on him, matched the Flash's speed with his own, and the two entered into fierce battle.

The Flash's wounds began to tell, and Professor Kang felled him with an energy discharge from his armor. Mercury shouted, and ran in to help. His progress was interrupted by a woman in a dark cloak. "IriskaniletmegoIhavetohelpBarry!"

She shook her head, "No, it's too late, we've failed." She vanished, taking Mercury with her. They barely saw the Sentinels advancing on the Scarlet Witch faster then she could blast them away.

* * *

AD 2003

The Crossover Crisis was over. The crossers-over, heroes and villains alike, returned to their worlds. There was one exception.

She stood next to the desk, staring at the viewscreen as a man who looked enough like her to be her brother, typed in mathematical data and furrowed his brows at the results. He turned to her. "I can't find anything about your appearance here that's different from the over crossovers. I don't know why you're still here, T'Chandra."

She nodded. "Thank you for trying, T'Challa. I suppose your Wakanda doesn't need two champions. Although I still can't get used to the idea that your Panther deity is male rather than female."

He smiled reassuringly, though with an underlying solemnity. "We can always use another champion. We'll just have to keep trying. But I assure you, my kingdom is at your disposal until then, your highness."

"Thank you again, your highness. Your generosity is much appreciated. I ... " She stopped as her vision began to blur. "T'Challa, what ... ?"

He stood up. "You're fading. Are you returning to your own world at last?"

She said, "It feels ... different ... "

With those worlds the Bronze Tigress faded from reality, leaving the Bronze Tiger very disturbed.

* * *

AD 1993

The Secret Crisis of the Infinity Hour was over.

Thorstar was dead. The day was inappropriately sunny. How ironic, Big Sif thought, that his funeral would resemble New Asgard more than Apokolips.

As the last of the mourners left the wake, offering words of comfort and sympathy that washed over her like rain, she did not move from her place at his side. It's where she was in life, after all. When she was alone, she unsheathed her mega-sword, holding it to her neck.

With a quick motion, she pulled tight a handful of her ebony locks and sliced them off, cutting her long hair to the base of her skull. Weeping, she wrapped the strands around the dead hero's hands, and closed the casket.

When they returned later to take the casket, she was gone.

* * *

AD 1873

The men rode up to the abandoned barn and dismounted from their horses. "I think I saw him come this way."

One of the others sneered, "That malform ain't gonna get away from the Haunted Horsemen. Come on, he can't go far on foot."

The white-clad gang spread out, guns drawn, and circled around the building. As one they entered, their eyes adjusting to the darkness. "Come on, you know you can't get far," their leader shouted out. "We've got you surrounded."

The only response was a quick laughter, and the gang looked up to see a trio of domino-masked gunmen aiming down at them from the support beams of the barn, "You can't surround the Six Gun Triplicate Kid!" Hot lead blazed down with deadly accuracy.

The gangsters ducked for cover, trying to shield themselves and return fire. Suddenly, the barrage stopped. "Stand down!" shouted their leader. All was quiet.

One of the other Horsemen asked, "Did we get 'em?"

The leader looked up. "Don't look like it. I don't see no bodies. Looks like they done vanished into thin air."

* * *

AD 503

Dane Grayle, known as the Atomic Black Knight, raised his glass of wine. "To Arthur," he said.

Merlin smiled, and raised his own. "To Arthur. Long may he reign."

As they drank, Grayle stared at his reflection on the Ebony Blade of his ancestor Sir Justin Percy a.k.a. the Shining Black Knight, native to this era. Merlin had brought him to this era to stand as Camelot's protector while the knights of the round table, including Sir Percy, sought out the Holy Grail. Of course, he understood due to the mystic nature of their swords that they must never meet face to face.

The wine had a cruder taste than what he was used to in the 20th century, but it was still satisfactory. "Thy hospitality is as fine as ever, great Merlin, but thou art not in the habit of inviting me here for sociability's sake."

The old wizard shook his head, "No. I seek knowledge of thy future era."

Grayle furrowed his brow. "What worries thee, mage? Thou hast warned me to be cautious in informing even you about events to come."

Merlin replied, "This is a matter most delicate. I fear Camelot's final days are near, and I must prepare myself. But for the sake of the legacy that Arthur must bring to the future, I must unleash a great force in the kingdom's defence, and I must know whether that force will bring salvation or disaster in the future era once Camelot has fallen. Sir Dane, hast thou ever heard of the demon ... Etrigan?"

Grayle opened his mouth to speak, when his vision began to blur. "Merlin? Are you sending me back to the future already?"

Merlin stood up. "This is not my magic!" he shouted in dismay as the Atomic Black Knight vanished.

* * *

AD 2963

"What in tarnation?"

"By the Panther's claw!"

"Merlin's beard!"

"In the name of All-Highfather Odin!"

They were on a hill overlooking a vast plateau, with floors of metal. In the background was the sound of churning machinery, though not all the assembled recognised it for what it was.

Standing apart from there were two people: a slender woman of average height, wearing a dark purple robe, and a husky man with two day's growth of beard wearing military fatigues from the late 20th century. "Welcome, titans of other times, to the 30th century."

The Atomic Black Knight sheathed his sword. "M'lady, I have been to the 30th century, and this is not the time I know."

The Six Gun Triplicate Kid turned to the Knight, "So what're you supposed to be? A knight in armor? And you say this is the future? Well, I been to the future myself, and I'm inclined to believe it. Scary lookin' place though."

Big Sif spoke warily, "It hath the look and feel of Apokolips."

The Bronze Tigress nodded, "It's certainly not my future. Why have you brought us here?"

The military man spoke up, "My name's Sergeant Frank Rock, and I think you should listen to what this lady has to say. It's not a pretty picture."

The woman nodded, "My name is Iriskani. I am a member of an organisation native to this era called the Ashkani. We select the essences of great heroes at the times of their deaths, and reincarnate them here, to await a final battle which our temporal prophets have assured us is coming."

Sif looked puzzled, "My life has been marked by the death of my husband, but I was not taken from battle. It is he whom thou wished to take, not me."

The Kid holstered his guns. "Wait ... you mean those Haunted Horsemen were actually about to do me in?"

Iriskani shook her head, "No, Matthew Durgowicz, they were not. We had to make special arrangements due to an emergency situation, involving a tyrant known as Professor Kang."

The Knight scowled, "I've encountered him in my subjective past ... if he's involved you definitely have my support."

The Kid nodded, "I've met someone by th' name of Kang too ... when the Judgement League Avengers visited my era ... dangerous owlhoot ... I guess you got my support too, ma'am."

The Tigress pondered, "I take it you're referring to someone akin to the Chronopatra I have encountered in my own reality ... if so, you definitely have my support. But what is this all about?"

Iriskani drew a deep breath, "Professor Kang comes from a divergent timeline to our own. He has recently attacked our timeline using an army of robots called the Sentinels, originally 20th century in design but updated using his own technology. He has sought to control the technology we use to summon the spirits of the dead through the timeline. He attacked that equipment first, and we have been unable to bring our own champions to bear to protect us. We are a peaceful people, and we have no other defences. I managed to save one, this man by the name of Rock, and together we have tried to find others through the timeline to aid us."

The Knight looked confused, "Well, I don't know these others, but I'm hardly the most powerful hero even of my own era ... why not summon the Judgement League Avengers or the Legion of Galactic Guardians, to aid you?"

Iriskani said, "I've not been able to access our full equipment. I only had an auxiliary laboratory to work with, and that at partial power so as not to alert the Sentinels. Rock and I discovered that those who had traversed the time stream frequently before, or those who were temporally or dimensionally displaced, were the easiest to summon. Our first attempt gathered champions from the 20th century: the Flash, the Scarlet Witch, and Mercury. But they failed. We were in the process of assembling a second set of champions when we were attacked again ... and you are those whom we were able to summon from across the centuries."

Sif walked up to Iriskani. "I hear in thy voice that thou hast suffered more than thy words countenance. This man known as the Flash, he meant much to thee, did he not? I tire of those who kill husbands. I will stand by thee."

Rock said, "We've been able to work on Professor Kang's weakness and your strengths, as Iriskani briefed me, and I think I have a strategy which just might work."

The woman unspooled a large roll of paper, revealing a network of patterns and designs. "The Flash's mission was not in vain. He managed to acquire a map of Professor Kang's domain Chronopolis, which we can use to access his control center. Unfortunately, we were discovered before he was able to make use of it. But with this group, and the information at hand, we have a chance."

The kid scratched his head, "Well I gone up against pretty bad odds before, just because there was a chance. You talked me into it, lady. I'm in."

Sgt. Rock stated, "Listen troops. Sif, you and I are going to take point. Six-Gun, I want you to cover our backs ... if anything tries to surprise us you can trivide and supply us with covering fire. Iriskani is the only one who can get to us Kang's control center, we must keep her protected at all cost, or else we'll all be stranded in Chronopolis or worse." The others agreed, and the impromptu time-buster passed through the underground tunnels ... what had previously been work access routes ... until they came to the edge of Chronopolis. Iriskani pointed out the route they would take.

They turned the corner and were immediately blasted by a sudden cold. Sif swore. "What in the name of Ymir's frosty beard?"

Iriskani said, "Remember what we discussed ... each passageway through Kang's domain will take us through a different time and place ... and only one of the Ashkani is attuned enough to chronal disruptions to guide you all through to the end of the passageway."

The Kid said, "Well I wish you told us it was gonna be so goshdarned cold!"

The Knight looked about him, closing his visor to shield his face from the frost. "I can't see my hand before my face. How are we supposed to find our way to the end of it?"

Rock pointed, "The wind is blowing north-northeast. It's coming from our right. Everyone, make sure it stays constantly on your right side, and keep together. We'll have to hope the wind doesn't shift before we get to the next passageway."

They trudged on, arms wrapped around themselves to protect from the bitter cold, breath crystallising before them. They only stopped at the sight of the immense figure they found, frozen in ice.

"That's about the ugliest owlhoot I ever saw."

Sif shook her head, "Look ... there is great suffering in that face. Its life has not been an easy one."

The Knight said, "Look at the clothing, and the obvious signs of medical treatments ... this thing must be from close to my own time. What it is, though, I haven't the faintest idea."

Iriskani said, "I believe this is a creature Kang has used, or intends to use. But we must not disrupt the timeline any further than we must. Come, the passageway is close."

Faster than a blink of the eye, they found themselves in a dimly lit cavern. They gasped as the cessation of cold was almost overwhelming, only to gag at the smell that assailed their senses. The Tigress wrinkled her nose and a deep growl escaped her throat, she crouched down as if ready for battle. "This is a charnel house."

"Oh my god," said the Knight, "Look."

Human skeletons lined the cavern, many of the bones broken. In one far corner of the cave was the skeleton of a great beast, larger than the one in ice, and greatly deformed. One of its arms had been severed clean off.

Sif said, "It bears the look of one of Thanoseid's creations. It came from Apokolips."

The Knight said, "This is the sort of creature I travelled to Arthur's time to fight ... a troll or an ogre. This is a terrible place."

Sgt Rock nodded, "Yep, and it looks like someone got to it before we did. Come on, there's nothing more for us to do here, and for all we know its mother may be lurking around somewhere."

Iriskani shuddered, and they travelled on. Each of the rooms was littered with bones, some arranged in piles of skulls or forearms, some scattered randomly. There was one room entirely of the skeletons of children. All the skeletons bore the scrapings of teeth marks.

It was a relief when they passed through. They found themselves at the top of a range of hills, the air pure. The team breathed a sigh of relief before they heard the sounds of scream and shouts and the clash of metal against metal. The Tigress with her heightened senses spotted it first. At the base of one of the hills, several dozen warriors had a pair backed into a corner. One of the pair was a tall man, clean of limb, with bronze skin and ebony black hair, and clad in little more than a loincloth. The woman was paler, with bright red hair and protected by light armor.

The Kid said, "That doesn't look at all fair to me. Come on guys, let's even the odds."

Iriskani said, "No, there isn't time ... "

Sif scoffed at her, "We are time travellers, no? I have just come from a place of vast injustice; it is never time to allow further injustice to be done."

Sgt Rock shook his head, "Get in line soldier. We have a mission. This time is long passed, there's nothing we can do to effect things."

The Knight drew his ebony sword, "I've spent enough time in the past to know that just isn't the case. Sif is right; we can't let this go by."

The Tigress snarled catlike. "It's decided then!" The four headed down, circling around behind the bandit warriors.

Sgt. Rock shook his head at Iriskani. "They could get hurt down here. That's the most undisciplined team I've ever had to lead."

Iriskani nodded. "They'll learn. They'll have to."

Sif charged in first, her sword, augmented by her great size and strength, scattering the bandits like a whirlwind. The Knight swung his blade with deadly accuracy. The Tigress prowled around the outskirts of the battle, her claws taking down any who escaped. The Kid blasted his way through to the pair, standing aside them.

The pair nodded to one another, and renewed by the support, charged out to join the newcomers. Soon their foes were defeated, and the pair greeted their rescuers.

The Kid shook his head, "I can't make head or tail of that lingo. Any of you?"

The Knight said, "No. I don't suppose it matters." He removed his helmet. "Dane," he said, clasping his hand to his chest to indicate himself. "Dane."

The red-skinned man took the Knight in a great bearhug, and laughing set him down. "Conak," he said, indicating himself. "Valda," said the woman.

"Sif." "T'Chandra." "Matt." They shook hands before Rock came down. "Are you quite finished now?" We have serious work to do here."

The Kid grinned and reloaded his pistols. "Yeah, I think it's time to move out."

They said their farewells and rejoined Iriskani at the top of the hill. As they passed through to the next level, they almost stumbled. They were still outside, but the grounding was very rocky. The Kid nearly stumbled down before the Knight caught him. Sgt Rock blinked, "By damn, it's Super-Soldier!"

They saw a man in red and blue battling a great lion. Aside the man, assisting him, was another man about seven feet tall.

"No, wait," said the Knight, "It looks like him, but it's not."

Iriskani said, "He must not see us. He is from a splinter continuum and has no place in this reality.

The Tigress watched the battle intently. "The large one looks like a male version of the giant warrior Hercula, if I recall the myths of your people correctly. What do mean by a splinter continuum? An alternate reality level, like my own?"

Iriskani shook her head, "No, something quite different. Please, come quickly, it will do no good to have him encounter such as us. He will learn things he was not meant to know."

They stumbled along the rockface to the next passage.

They entered a familiar cityscape. The Knight grinned. "I know this place! This is London!" He barely spoke before they were nearly trampled by a crowd, fleeing an explosion.

Sgt. Rock raised his eyes, "Cripes, we're in the middle of the Blitz!"

Tigress pointed, "If so, your Earth's history is more different from mine than I supposed." The followed her line of site, only to behold the great machines walking on towering legs, thirty feet high, through the city streets. Beams of light flashed from the saucer atop the machines, incinerating all it touched.

The Knight said, "My god ... the Martian invasion ... we've come through in the middle of the Martian invasion ... "

Iriskani said, "This problem will solve itself. Come quickly, this place is not safe for us."

The Kid said, "You don't have to tell me twice, lady!" He ducked as a piece of concrete, blasted off the top of a nearby building, came falling towards him. Sif reached out and caught it easily. She grinned at the cowboy. "We used to train with rocks this size where I was a child."

The Kid shook his head, "They sure do grow 'em big where you come from, lady!" He grinned back at her.

Ducking and covering the heat beams, they ran towards the entrance to the next passage.

The found themselves in a completely bleak landscape. Sgt. Rock looked at Iriskani. "Where are we now?"

She said, "I don't ... I don't know ... this isn't Earth .. "

The Kid gaped, fascinated. "Whoah ... another planet ... "

The Tigress wandered forward to scout at the area, then suddenly fell to her knees. Sif ran to assist her. Halfway through she stopped, and with a fierce look on her face, signed the others to keep their place. She picked up the Tigress easily and carried her back. The Tigress inhaled, choking, "There's no atmosphere out there!"

The Knight looked around, "But we can breathe fine. I don't understand this."

Iriskani said, "Kang must have ... set up a sheath of atmosphere along the passage ... I don't understand it. We must be careful and not stray from the path."

Sgt Rock knelt down by the Tigress. "Are you ok soldier?"

She nodded, and rested her hand on his shoulder to push herself up. "Yes, I'm fine. Come, let's get out of here."

Iriskani moved slowly, eyes on the chronal disruption she saw was ahead. She travelled carefully in a straight line, the other following behind her single-file. As they passed through the exit, they never saw the silvery, crescent-shaped ship which observed their progress.

They entered a city of unimaginable technological sophistication. Buildings which seemed to be made of water thrust skywards. Ships passed through the air at unimaginable speeds. Artificial creatures of inexplicable purpose passed through the city streets alongside the oddly dressed inhabitants.

"No, I can't believe it," Iriskani whispered, "Kang has brought us through to the future of both of our eras ... this is thousands of years from any time I know."

Sif turned her head to the clear blue sky. "These are men like gods, who have built this city. It reminds me of New Asgard."

The Knight turned to her to ask Iriskani what she meant, when an emerald figure soared from the skies and landed before them. The Knight grinned widely, "Iron Lantern!"

The figure stated, "So you know me. What are you oddly-dressed strangers doing in my city?"

The Knight said, "Hal? It's me, Dane. We're both members of the Judgement League Avengers." He took off his helmet to reveal his face.

The Iron Lantern shook his head. "My name is Arn Manning, not Hal. Now answer my question."

Iriskani stepped forward, "We are simple passers-by, lost in time. We did not mean to intrude."

The man in the emerald armor looked puzzled for a moment. "Lost in .. time ... you say." He seemed discomfited by her words. "Very well .. pass on ... " He turned and flew off without a word.

Tigress blinked at him as he flew off. The Kid said, "What in tarnation was all that about?"

Sgt. Rock said, "I don't know, but we have clear passage. Let's go."

The walked on, marvelling at the sights around them, until they found themselves in a vast hallway, constructed of metal. "We're here," Iriskani said.

"Intruder alert!" They looked up to see a Sentinel bearing down on them. "That's a big 'un" said the Kid.

The Knight drew his sword. Sgt. Rock shouted out, "Sif! Get him down to our level!"

She nodded, and ran towards the robot. It raised its hands, releasing blasts of energy which the team barely managed to avoid. As it headed towards them she caught one of its feet as it stepped down, and roar she toppled it.

It crashed to the ground. The Kid fired away at the Sentinel's sensory apparatus, and Tigress leapt atop it, seeking the access panel Iriskani had described to her. The Sentinel tried to reach forward to grab the Kid before it was blinded, only to have its hand severed by the Knight's blade. With her claws, Tigress opened the panel and turned the Sentinel into inactive mode."

Sgt. Rock grinned. "Excellent work, team. Now we just have one more doorway to get through."

They entered it to find Professor Kang, clad in his yellow armor which accelerates his movements to a level like that of Speed Demon, waiting for them."

"Hello again Iriskani," he said. "I'm quite impressed this team of misfits you gathered managed to defeat one of my Sentinels. I'll have to do some reprogramming I see. Now, what should I do with the rest of you now?" Before they could answer, he sped into a yellow blur, circling around them. The team circled back-to-back, the Knight and Sif with their swords drawn, the Kid and Sgt. Rock with their guns ready, Iriskani at the center.

Tigress, the fastest of them, lunged forward to interrupt his path. He grabbed her by the wrist and spun her around, hurtling her into the wall which she hit with a bruising impact. He stopped and laughed at them. "Who's next?"

They moved forward at once, firing first, but the bullets vibrated harmlessly through Kang. As Sif swung her own weapon at him, he grabbed the handle, vibrating it loose from her grip. For the briefest moment he wielded her mega-sword, holding it to her neck. Even with her warrior's instincts she barely had time to respond to the threat before he swung out, hands moving swift as lightning, severing her head from her body. Her blood spattered against the gleaming white of the room before the others even had time to register what had occurred.

"No," Iriskani cried out, "No, it's not supposed to happen like this."

Kang whirled around, knocking the Knight and Sgt. Rock down and grabbing the Kid in a chokehold. The Knight snarled, "Let him go, Kang. I've fought you before and you've always lost. You'll lose this time too."

Kang laughed. "Time, what do you know about time? There's nothing you can do to touch me. I can be anywhere I wish faster than you can imagine it."

The Kid trisected, breaking free of Kang's grip. Kang looked around to find a pair of guns angled at his head from all three sides. "Unless we're already there ... you _mangy owlhoot_!" Without another word, they fired.

Kang fell.

The three Kids reunited. "Worked just like you said it would, Sarge. Nice going."

Sgt. Rock nodded. "If it worked perfectly, we'd have had no fatalities." They walked over to the body of Big Sif.

The Tigress nodded sadly. "What now, Iriskani? Can you return us to our homes?"

Iriskani said, "Not yet ... I am so sorry, but I must restore the time travel mechanisms first, and free my people. Kang did considerable damage and I dare not use his equipment to too great an extent lest I alert one of his chronal counterparts. In the meantime, I have an offer for you."

The Kid reholstered his guns. "What have you got in mind, lady?"

She said, "The four of you have defeated one of the greatest menaces to the timestream. I have learned that we need defences, both for our own time and also to safeguard the integrity of the timestream itself. Can you join us? Can you be our Centurions to guard the centuries?"

Sgt. Rock said, "Provided you get me him in time to win the war, lady, I'm with you."

The Bronze Tigress said, "It appears I'm lost from my own reality. I have no home now, and I would just as well fight with as fight alone."

The Atomic Black Knight nodded, "I've fought Professor Kang across the centuries and would welcome the help. I will also join you."

The Six-Gun Triplicate Kid said, "Well shucks, I ain't up to nothing so grand where I'm at. I'll throw my hat in with you, sure."

Iriskani said, "So it shall be. Come, let us bury our dead. We have much to do."

THE BEGINNING

* * *

According to an issue of _Alter Ego_, Roy Thomas had made or considered proposals to Marvel and to DC for a team comic consisting of cross-time adventurers (including a female Black Panther). The lineup for this 'fic consists of the canonical Amalgam renditions of all the characters he considered for either publisher, leaving out any characters who did not appear in the original Amalgam series (with the addition of Big Sif, solely so that I could portray her death sequence as she had passed in the original canon). Thanks to Ultro for background info on Atomic Black Knight, and Crazy Ivan for general help.


End file.
